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I recently read an article where the author tried making a case for why certain exercises should be removed from your training routine. The article was called: “ 5 Most Overrated Exercises You Can Stop Doing. “

As I finished reading the article I could not find any reason to stop doing exercises that might be working well for someone. Maybe people would benefit more by changing the methods of how they perform their exercise routine not just the exclusion or replacement of certain exercises? I think it makes sense to try and replicate how elite athletes train as they are spending larger amounts of time perfecting athletic skills to compete at a very high level. Try some of the suggestions I have made below and decide for yourself whether you need to change specific exercises or alter the method of how you organize your routine. I think you might like some of these ideas.

1. Experiment with shorter or longer rest intervals to intensify quality or make the workout more cardiovascular in nature. Shorter rest periods will make things harder for you and therefore more intense. Intensity can be very good but intensity is also difficult to repeat consistently so be thoughtful. For example most elite sprinters may be able to handle 3 very intense sessions per week but others may only handle 2 high intensity sessions per week. Define intensity? Well, it has to do with the percentage of your total maximum output over a certain period of time. Longer rest periods might allow you to perform exercises more intensely but you need to be progressive with what you are doing over time or you risk for injury goes up.

Example = plank = you might routinely repeat this for 30 seconds. On occasion you might challenge yourself to see how long you can hold the plank for more than 30 seconds.

2. Another trick is to add a small number of abdominal exercises between each exercise. You might take these 5 exercises, perform this routine as a circuit and all of a sudden you have a totally different workout.

Example. – side plank 30 seconds

4 regular sit ups

Traditional crunches

4 sit ups (choose a different kind then crunches or regular sit ups)

Bench press

4 sit ups of yet a different type again

Seated knee extension

4 varied sit ups

Hanging knee raises

You could repeat this above circuit. One or two more times depending on how much time you want to spend exercising.

3. Another great way to change the way this routine could become more or different for you would be to add intervals on a bike, treadmill, pool or other exercise machine. The only restriction might be gyms might not offer the flexibility of going back and forth from some equipment while doing other exercises but I will leave it to you to innovate where and how you could make some of these general ideas work for you.

Conclusion =

There is a lot of information in the media which I feel caters to a quick fix or fast and easy approach to fitness. The ideas I am trying to teach people stem from rules followed by athletes to succeed in a competitive sport. Typically I see people in gyms doing a few exercises with the expectation of success. Try some change in your methodology ( = how you train) by mixing some of your own simple exercises ( or the ones listed in this article) but experiment with how you perform those exercises. You may continue to gradually adjust and do other things but I think the method is far more important than the exercises you select.